A passion for writing

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Not many people on the beach know the dual life of Gloria Skinner.

According to Skinner, only her family and immediate friends know of her alter-ego, Amelia Grey.

“A lot of people know there is a writer out on the beach who writes historical romance books,” Skinner said. “Sometimes I’ll walk into a book store and ask if they have any of my books and they’ll say, ‘oh you must be that writer on the beach.’ So I seem to hear that I am more often referred to as ‘the writer on the beach.’”

Skinner has published 25 books under her various personas and she has a shelf of her work published in Turkey, Russia, Italy, Spain, Netherlands and other countries. This year her first two works were sold to a publisher in Japan.

“My first nine books were set in America written under Gloria Skinner. So when I decided I wanted to move to writing during the Regency Period in England, my editor said if I was moving to England, I should change my name.”

Her most recent book, “A Gentleman Says ‘I Do,’ ” was listed on the New York Times e-book best seller list at 28 on Aug. 12 and was listed on a USA Today best sellers list.

“The romance genre encompasses huge amounts of book sales because romances are less expensive and you can write it in any time period you want,” Skinner said. “Paranormal is huge right now; I just don’t want to write about vampires, myself.”

The past 11 books Skinner has published have been based in Regency England, 1811-1821.

“I know about that time period,” Skinner said. “I know how they dressed, what kind of furniture, the political climate. Matches weren’t invented so I couldn’t strike a match, I know what foods were available. I know they hated France.”

What follows is the description of “A Gentleman said ‘I Do’”

“The daughter of a famous writer, Catalina Crisp has helped her father publish a parody that makes Iverson Brentwood's whole family the talk of the town, and not in a good way.

“Because He's the Reality Behind the Story...

Furious and threatening, Iverson storms into Catalina's house, demanding satisfaction, but the infamous rake has finally met his match. With her cool demeanor and intense intelligence, Catalina heats his blood like no other woman in his notorious history.”

Her next book, “The Rogue Steals a Bride,” will be out in July.

“They were my favorite books to read,” Skinner said of romances, citing the possibility for interesting characters and plot variations.

“What makes this one interesting, other than the characters that are in it, is it is the last of a series of six,” Skinner said. “All of the books stand on their own but there are some sub-characters that continually show up.”

Skinner began her writing career after reading the romance novels of Sandra Brown and others. She read enough of the genre to feel confident in writing her own. “Diamond Days,” her first book, was published June of 1991.

Skinner has won the coveted Romantic Times award for Love and Laughter, the prestigious Maggie award for best historical and Affaire de Coeur's best American historical award. She has been a finalist for the Golden Heart and the Holt Medallion awards which are given by Romance Writers of America and a host of other awards.

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